Surviving Winter

For the past several weeks we’ve had three frogs smaller than my thumb living in our window box.  At times, they’ll latch onto the window and press their fat bellies up against the glass. They’re cute little guys.  The other day, however, I suddenly became worried about our tiny friends.  The weather is becoming cool and crisp and I’ve eagerly pulled out my scarves and sweaters to keep me warm.  But these frogs don’t have that privilege.  They obviously don’t migrate, so they’re stuck here.  What happens to them once the temperatures drop even more?  

This past week I have also been reflecting on a devotional I read by Paul Tripp titled “The Wrong Address.” In it he encourages Christians to take heart because 1) When and where we live is never a mistake 2) Our life hasn’t worked according to our plans because it’s part of a bigger plan 3) God has us just where He wants us 4) God has a wonderful purpose for bringing into our lives the things that we now face 5) God does all of this so that He’ll always be near. Click HERE to Read

So what do baby frogs and an online devotional have to do with each other?  Well, I've been struck recently by the diversity of suffering.  It seems that everyone is hurting, but no one is struggling with the same thing.  Sure, there may be general areas of overlap, but each person's trials are unique.  I thus found the frogs to be a sweet reminder that all of creation can point us to the glorious story our Father is specifically weaving in each one of us.   

For example, it's been my opinion that these frogs are at the wrong address!  As great as our window box may be, they should be some place warmer.  In fact, if I were a frog, I’d want to pay a visit to my froggy friends in Florida right about now. Minnesota is better suited for animals with furry coats and humans bundled up like little Randy from A Christmas Story, right?  So why are they here? Well, in Minnesnowta where it would seem impossible for frogs to survive the winter, God has placed these three little guys in our window box and given them an antifreeze-like blood to see them through the freeze and thaw of winter.  Antifreeze-blood?!  Just let that sink in for a moment. God placed them where He willed and will flood their system with what they need to survive come colder weather.  Amazingly, God has equipped them specifically for the harshness of Minnesota.  They are not lacking. Likewise, when we are brought to our knees through trials and hardships, it’s easy to feel like we are at the wrong address.  I confess I often ask, Why this? Why me?  Why now? Why here?  Like a tiny frog about to undergo the harshness of a dark and cold winter, the trails we face often seem impossible to bear.  Will we ever see the Spring again?  Yes, yes we will! Winter does not have the last say for these frogs for come Spring, these frogs will croak again.  Likewise, God will put His strength in our weakness so that we too will not be lacking.  As dark as the days may be, we will see the Spring because Christ endured and conquered the harshest of winters for us--sin, death, and the power of Satan.  And so though our sufferings and trials may last a lifetime, we have tasted the warmth and light of Spring in the Gospel and therefore rejoice even in the coldest months of Winter knowing that one day we will see Christ face to face.  Until then, we do not lose heart because "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,  and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you,  who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.  In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials [...]" (1 Peter 1:3-6). 

Remembering back to my freshman year biology class, we learned that various environments are suited to different species.  In our lecture on niches, we learned that a niche is both a habitat that supplies the necessary factors for the existence of a given species and also an organism's specific role in its given community.  Couldn’t it be said then that we too as Christians have a providentially assigned “niche”, a place where God has placed us and appointed us to live and thrive? But what is that place and how are we called to live? Personally, I feel entitled to a niche where I am most comfortable—I’m doing what I want, when I want, with who I want.  That’s my flesh though and it’s all about me.  But our niche really isn't about us at all--it's about Christ and what will bring Him the most glory. The place we live, the people we interact with and the trials and circumstances that come our way are the niche given to use by our wise, loving, and sovereign Father who ordains all things for our good and His glory. In fact, I think it is precisely because God is wise and loving that He takes us where we would never go on our own to give us what we could never gain on our own--greater intimacy with Him. 

The following is one of my favorite quotes by C.S. Lewis. He writes, “In each of my friends there is something that only some other friend can fully bring out. By myself I am not large enough to call the whole man into activity; I want other lights than my own to show all his facets...”  If a friend has facets, surely the great God of the universe has infinite facets!  And maybe that's why God places us at different addresses, for in our providentially assigned niche, we come to see some facet of God's character more clearly.  As a diverse group of believers striving to know our Father more deeply and love Him more sweetly, we should aim to glorify God by sharing in community the love and care and mercy He has shown us, thereby inviting others to taste the joy we have experienced firsthand.  

And so, I was encouraged by our little window box friends because I was reminded that just as our Father sustains His creatures in every terrain (yes, even Minnesota!), so too He sustains His children spiritually wherever He has placed them and called them to live.  He doesn't waste pain and He doesn't send us trials to strip us of our joy.  Rather, He uses suffering as a means of our sanctification by drawing us together as a community and giving us a deeper, truer, lasting joy--Himself.  May we cling to Christ and grow in our ability to say "But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.  We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.  So death is at work in us, but life in you" (2 Corinthians 4:7-12). 

My thoughts were a bit all over the place, so if you read this far, thanks for bearing with me!

Prayer Meeting

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:24-25)

Wednesday nights my church holds prayer meeting.   Yes, prayer meeting. Sounds a little old-fashioned and Puritan-esque, right?  Maybe so.  I confess that when my family first began attending Redeemer, I balked at prayer meeting.  You mean I will be asked to pray with strangers?  No thank you! 

I dreaded prayer meeting for several reasons.  First, prayer meeting meant I had to pray with strangers, and usually one-on-one.  As much as I loved meeting new people, this could be awkward.  What if no one wanted to pray with me? And when I did find someone, what if we didn’t click?  What if they didn’t like me?  Secondly, praying aloud was a major source of fear for me.  What if I couldn’t articulate my thoughts?  What would the person praying with me think?  Would I be looked down on for the manner in which I prayed?  These anxieties manifested themselves in some pretty tragic ways, the result being that during prayer meeting I became so focused on my prayers that I completely forgot about the One I was praying to.  Sounds pretty distorted, right?  That’s because it was.  I was completely crippled by my insecurities, unable to be real in my prayers because I felt a need to portray myself in a certain light, a need to be what others expected me to be.  And so, fearing the judgment of others, I wasn’t vulnerable in my prayers. Rather than prayer meeting being a time of community with other believers and communion with God, prayer meeting became a courtroom.  Would I live up to the expectations of others?  Would I have their approval?  Ultimately, the reason prayer meeting freaked me out is because it was all about me.  My comfort. My reputation.  As Tim Keller says, “It takes pride to be anxious.”  This was exactly my case, for my anxiety stemmed from a twisted sense of pride which manifested itself in a fear of man.

"We are all looking for an ultimate verdict that we are important and valuable. We look for that ultimate verdict every day in all the situations and people around us. And that means that every single day, we are on trial. Every day, we put ourselves back in a courtroom…”  –Tim Keller, ‘The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness’

I am so thankful that my God is patient yet firm with me.  Over the years I’ve needed to repeatedly confess and repent of my fear of man.  Through the work of the Holy Spirit and the encouragement of others, this is an area I’ve grown in.  But it’s not over—I still, at times, find myself returning to this fearful and self-preoccupied state.  It seems that so often I fail to remember Who God is, thereby forgetting Whose I am.

“...but [Christians] are out of the courtroom, [we] are out of the trial. How? Because Jesus Christ went on trial instead. Jesus went into the courtroom. Why? As our substitute. He took the condemnation we deserve; He faced the trial that should be ours so that we do not have to face any more trials...Self-forgetfulness takes you out of the courtroom. The trial is over. The verdict is in... We have to relive the gospel on the spot and ask ourselves what we are doing in the courtroom. We should not be there. The court is adjourned."  –Tim Keller, ‘The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness’

So at times although prayer meeting is the last place I want to be, it is exactly where I need to be, since this is where real, transformative growth takes place—outside my comfort zone.

“The only way to come to God is by taking off any spiritual mask. The real you has to meet the real God. He is a person. The criteria for coming to Jesus is weariness. Come overwhelmed with life. Come with your  wandering mind. Come messy. Instead of being frozen by your self-preoccupation, talk with God about your worries. Often we are so busy and overwhelmed that when we slow down to pray, we don’t know where our hearts are. We don’t know what troubles us. So, oddly enough, we might have to worry before we pray. Then our prayers will make sense. They will be about our real lives.”

–Paul Miller, ‘A Praying Life’

Prayer meeting is thus a chance for me to practice the freedom of self-forgetfulness.  It’s not about me.  It’s about worshiping my Lord and Savior through fellowship with other believers. It’s not about how I view myself or how others view me.  Ultimately, these perspectives do not matter.  The only perspective that matters is God’s. What does this mean?  It means I can come to prayer meeting messy—I’m free to admit my weakness and struggles, free to be real.  What a sweet relief it is. 

"Like Paul, we can say, 'I don't care what you think. I don't even care what I think. I only care what the Lord thinks.' And he has said, 'Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus', and 'You are my beloved child in whom I am well pleased.' Live out of that.” –Tim Keller, ‘The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness’

I have been so encouraged by the manner in which the body of Christ has really become a living reality for me.  As much as I once dreaded prayer meeting, I now leave Redeemer incredibly encouraged.  Through conversation and prayer, I get to experience communion and fellowship with fellow believers. Since we gather as the body of Christ, the women I pray with are my sisters.  Sisters.

“For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” 

(Matthew 18:20)

Just like I don’t fear my sister Ingrid, I need not fear my sisters in Christ.  These women have blessed me in profound ways, and despite any differences we may have, we are united by a common foundation—Christ.  And what a solid foundation it is, for the Gospel of Christ crosses all barriers.  What a gift that prayer meeting gives me the opportunity to pray and worship with people I might not otherwise connect with.

 “…a Christian comes to others only through Jesus Christ….Without Christ we should not know God, we could not call upon him, nor come to him. But without Christ we also would not know our brother, nor could we come to him. The way is blocked by our own ego. Christ opened up the way to God and to our brother.” —Dietrich Bonhoeffer

An Open Letter to the Church from a Lesbian

  An Open Letter to the Church from a Lesbian

"You are willing to compromise the word of God to be politically correct. We are not deceived. If we accept your willingness to compromise, then we must also compromise...We do not ask for your acceptance of our sins any more than we accept yours. We simply ask for the same support, love, guidance, and most of all hope that is given to the rest of your congregation. We are your brothers and sisters in Christ. We are not what we shall be, but thank God, we are not what we were. Let us work together to see that we all arrive safely home."

CCEF: Holding Out for a Better Offer

"Discontentment reigns today. As a general rule, the more options, the less contentment, and the less contentment, the more people we will hurt. What a gift that the word of God reveals a different way to live.  When we say “yes” we are led in freedom, not bondage. Our “yes” becomes the will of God for us, and when we know we are living as our Father intends, life is good...There is freedom and contentment in not holding out for a better offer."   This is such a great article by Ed Welch, one I was both encouraged and challenged by!  

click HERE to read the rest of Welch's article

Lecrae: Hope When Life is Hard

When asked about the biblical promise he turns to most, Lecrae responds with:

"The biblical promise that I turn to most is that all things work together for the good of those who love God and are called by him (Romans 8:28). I have to lean on the reality that even if it doesn’t look good to me, or feel good to me, God is ultimately being glorified. And in the end, even if it’s not until I am in heaven, it will work out to my benefit. Even if I don’t realize it until heaven, it will work out for my benefit.

I lean on that because life is difficult. Life is hard. It’s complicated. It’s not peachy keen, as a lot of people would like to make it seem. It takes a lot of leaning on the hope that is in Jesus. Without that hope we are just left to go insane, to be at our wit’s end. So this is the promise I hold to."

McDonald's Fries and Idolatry

When I see movies or commercials, read books, listen to the radio, etc., I like to ask the following:  What is this telling me about God and myself?  I have my mom to thank for this.  For as long as I can remember, she would always ask me and my sibling what a particular movie or book was communicating to us about God and man.  At the time it drove me crazy!  I wanted to watch my movies and enjoy my books without having to examine the underlying message.  Now, however, I am grateful that my mom established this habit, for the older I get, the more I realize that no words are neutral.  Words have meaning and therefore possess the power to influence by conveying attitudes, opinions, convictions and worldview.  Simply put, everything has a message.     

That being said, I’m not a huge fan of comedian Jim Gaffigan.  He can be crude and I don’t believe he’s as witty as say, Tim Hawkins or Brian Regan.  I was recently shocked, however, by a portion of Gaffigan’s act, whereby his rave on McDonalds turned into quite the lesson on our human condition.  Indeed, this particular act was deeply theological in nature.  According to Jim Gaffigan, many of us live in “McDonald's denial”—we realize McDonald's is terrible for us, and yet we keep going back for more.  As I listened to Gaffigan mock the individuals, including himself, who return again and again to the golden arches, I was struck by the profundity of his comments, for at the core of Gaffigan’s act was this message: We all worship something.  Gaffigan spoke about McDonald’s fries in a manner that eerily resembled idolatry.  In fact, Jim Gaffigan offered amazing insight into the nature of idolatry, and all without ever once mentioning the words “sin” or “idol”:  

“I think everyone’s lying.”  Me too.  If we know that 6 billion burgers are sold and only a fraction of people are admitting to purchasing these burgers, then most people clearly aren’t telling the truth.   Either they’re reducing the number of burgers they claim to have purchased or they are denying purchasing them altogether.  So if McDonald's is comparable to sin, as I am suggesting in this example, how many of us are lying about our sins or idols?  Maybe you and I refuse to acknowledge and confess our sins in full detail, ashamed that we think or act or speak as we do. Perhaps we have tried to cut back on McDonald's and perhaps we have tried to withstand our sins.  Perhaps these attempts have been futile, and realizing our inability to say no, we feel shame.  Maybe we can’t give up our idols and thus realize that we don’t own them.  Rather, they own us, and we are enslaved to them! This bondage is a source of shame, and perhaps that is why we lie.  Perhaps we don’t want to admit we’re really that weak. 

 “Have you ever eaten too many McDonald's fries? Of course not!  There’s never enough of them!”  Isn’t it the exact same way with our sin?  Sin promises to satisfy our needs and cravings, yet it never does!  In fact, we are so hooked on our sin that we go in search of meager “fry crumbs,” scanty pleasures to fill our gnawing hunger and deep longings.

But what happens when we finally obtain our craved and sought-after fries?  Jim Gaffigan tells us: “Those fries are amaaaaazing.  For what? Like seven minutes?  And then they turn into something that’s most likely not biodegradable.”  Once again, doesn’t sin play out in a strikingly similar fashion?  We find only momentary satisfaction in our sin.  Seven minutes in this case!  What is more, we do not return to our pre-McDonald's state.  Rather, we find ourselves worse off than we were originally: Whereas we once simply craved these things—either fries or idols—now we carry the non-biodegradable effects with us.  We walk away from these encounters with something that cannot be broken down and has the potential to destroy life if allowed to accumulate. Isn’t this what our idols do?  

How about leftovers?  Jim Gaffigan asks his audience how many of them have tried to reheat their fries. These reheated fries “aren’t even good anymore,”

and yet according to Gaffigan, it “doesn’t stop you from eating them!”  Isn’t this the definition of insanity, eating something that has lost all appetitive value?  Don’t you and I do the same thing with sin?  We keep returning to our sins, knowing they won’t satisfy, and yet nevertheless hoping that this time they will.  It’s insanity, repeatedly doing the same thing and expecting different results.  It just ain’t gonna happen.         

“We know those McDonald’s commercials aren’t realistic. I’d just like to see one commercial that shows people five minutes after they ate McDonald's.”  Wouldn’t we all?  But of course those commercials aren’t realistic!  They were created to entice you and I, to draw us in.  Sin does the same: it lies. Sin adorns itself with all the false trappings of peace, joy, pleasure, and fulfillment, but all of these are only a thin masking for the ugly evil lurking beneath. And just like commercials, our idols will not show us the deep consequences and complications resulting from out sin until we have tasted and bought the lie.  So why do we believe these lies? I don’t think it’s solely because we are the victims of malicious schemes.  That is indeed one portion of the issue, for we are under attack (Ephesians 6:12) and Satan does indeed disguise himself as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14).  I believe, however, that much of it stems from the fact that we see what we want to see—we want to believe those fries are really that tasty, or that those burger buns are really that light and fluffy (as opposed to the squished, soggy, lop-sided buns we actually receive in the drive-thru).  We want the lie to be true! Likewise, we want to believe our idols will come through.  Our idols ensnare us by making false promises, yet we keep returning in the hopes that some day, those promises will become reality.  They never do.  Ever.   So I think it’s safe to say that the root of all sin and all idolatries can be traced back to belief in a lie.  Just go back and read what happened with Eve in the garden!  What lie did she believe?  What lies am I believing? 

“They get us in there….some of those deals they offer are just cruel!”  Fast food sure is enticing.  It lures us in, just like sin.  We are offered satisfaction at a bargain we cannot seem to resist.  And what happens next?  We become gluttons and gorge ourselves.   And who can honestly say they feel satisfied and content after such a gorging?  No one.  We feel sick, both physically disgusting and emotionally disgusted.  And so our idols may appear beautiful and desireable, but they are only bitter in memory.  Sin’s pleasure is only for a season, for by nature sin enslaves, entraps, destroys and kills, leaving us with heartache, sorrow and suffering.

And finally, here is what I found the most profound: “I have friends that brag about not going to McDonald's...I’m tired of people acting like they’re better than McDonald's.  It’s like, you may have never set foot in McDonald’s, but you have your own McDonald's.  Maybe instead of buying a Big Mac you read Us Weekly.  Hey, that’s still McDonald's!  It’s just served up a little different.  Maybe your McDonald's is telling yourself that Starbucks Frappuccino is not a milkshake.  Or maybe you watch Glee. It’s all McDonald's, McDonald's of the soul: momentary pleasure followed by incredible guilt eventually leading to cancer...We all have our own. We all have our own McDonald's….” Wow.  Jim Gaffigan hit the nail on the head with this one.   Those words are haunting. What is the McDonald's of my soul?  What is my idol?  What is it that I turn towards for my pleasure,  satisfaction, comfort and identity?  In what or in whom do I find my joy?  Is it Christ alone, or Christ substitutes?  And then there’s cancer.  It’s a silent killer.  Too often it goes undetected, only to be discovered once it is too late.  So I must ask myself this, what seemingly harmless idol am I feeding that will soon rear its ugly head?  What cancerous idol am I allowing to rule my life?     

Human beings—you and I—were created to worship.  The only question is, who or what do we worship?  Do we worship God or God substitutes?  If I am not worshipping God, it does not necessarily mean I am bowing down to the image I carved from the old tree in my yard. An idol can be anything or anyone in whom I place ultimate concern, value, allegiance, etc. My idols, then, are anything apart from Christ in which I place my hope and trust and identity. Idolatry, therefore, can just as much be—if not more so—an affair of the heart.  We are prone to wander, prone to leave the God we love.  But as believers, you and I have been granted an incredible gift of life and hope and freedom in Christ:

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

 (Hebrews 2:14-15)

 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.  Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.  For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.  We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin.  Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.  We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.  For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.  So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

(Romans 6:5-14)

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

(Romans 8:1-4)

“What you treasure will ultimately require you die for it, but Jesus is the only treasure that died for you.” 

–Tim Keller

Click HERE to watch Tim Keller on: What is idolatry?